The dead tell tales

Letitia Ann Garmonsway, 1809-1892

In the 125th anniversary year since New Zealand women got the vote, it is timely to recognise the lives of pioneering Pa¯ keha¯ women who came to this country in the early days of colonial settlement. Letitia Ann Garmonsway did not live long enough to be among the first women to take advantage of their right to vote – she died in 1892 – but from what we know of her, she would have been a keen supporter of equality for women.

According to comprehensive entries on the Tauranga Library’s kete website (see http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/tauranga_local_history/topics/), Letitia was born Letitia Ann King in Hampshire in 1809, but she was raised in Ireland by her grandparents after her parents and sister emigrated to Australia in 1817. Her father was a military man, and so was the man she met and married: Edward Garmonsway. He was with the 56th Regiment stationed in Limerick, which is where Letitia and Edward married in 1831.

Edward’s military duties saw them travel, and the births and deaths of their children document some of their postings. Their first born died in Jamaica aged three years; their second died aged six weeks; the third was born in London, their fourth was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and died there aged 10 months. Another son was born at Halifax and another at Stockport Barracks in Lancashire; the seventh child in Portsmouth. Another child was born and died in 1848, perhaps in India.

According to Edward’s military papers, he transferred to the 8th Regiment in 1837 and served in North America and India. He was discharged in 1848 for medical reasons; by then, he had the rank of sergeant. The family returned to England, but Edward joined the Royal New Zealand Fencibles – a settlement scheme whereby retired soldiers who signed up were granted free passage to New Zealand, a cottage and a small piece of land. In January 1852, the family embarked on the ‘‘Inchinnan’’ – 11 days later, Letitia gave birth to another daughter. And just three months later, daughter Jane, aged 21⁄2 years, was among 23 people who died on the voyage.

Letitia and family lived at Howick where their 11th (and final) child was born. Edward was listed as a clockmaker in the 1857 electoral roll. They owned several five-acre lots and one acre in Howick village and, like other settlers, would have been fairly self-sufficient.

In November 1865, they shifted to Alexandra (now Pirongia) as Edward and son Edward (Ned) enlisted as substitutes with the 2nd Regiment of Waikato Militia, after the Waikato Wars, and were granted land there as militiamen-settlers. Another son, Thomas, enlisted in 1863.

The family settled down and became involved with social life at Pirongia. Son John became a baker, first at Howick, then Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia and then at Pirongia. Thomas (and perhaps Edward senior) farmed at Pa¯ terangi; Edward junior was a carter at Pirongia. Of Letitia’s 11 children, five died as newborns or toddlers. It is assumed that the family lived in military barracks for most of these years. Once in New Zealand, she would have lived in a raupo¯ whare until a more substantial wooden cottage could be built.

Edward died at Pa¯ terangi in 1875 aged 64, and Letitia in January 1892, aged 81.

Pa¯keha¯ settlers Letitia and Edward Garmonsway’s grave at Alexandra Cemetery, Pirongia, used to be marked by a unique, if somewhat crude, handmade plaque. It consisted of a sheet of copper wrapped around a wooden block, the inscription punched through the copper. It has been replaced, but the punched script retained in more durable materials and laid on to the grave along with a more conventional granite plaque.